This blog was partially inspired by a prospect who asked us if we do 100% commission sales and another who asked, “When you call on my behalf, where do you say you are from?”
We specialize in fractional sales assistance. In our case, we will dedicate a specific amount of time that month towards a client’s sales efforts where we white-label ourselves and become a seamless extension of their team. We have an email address from them, and when we call, we are calling from our client. There is no mention of VA Partners.
Fractional Sales vs. Independent Sales Reps
This differs from a independent sales rep that could have a large catalogue of similar products (for example, construction and design products), and they, on a commission-only basis in many cases, represent those products in market and take a larger success fee for driving sales. An independent rep would typically call using their company name, not yours.
Understanding the Risk and Investment in B2B Sales
There is no right and wrong answer to what is better. Our answer has been that B2B sales takes investment and time, in the realm of 6 to 18 months to close new business and requires 8 or more touches. That opportunity cost of time, the risk of not having a say in the product or equity in the company, leave a lot of risk on the table and that is not a risk we are in a position to bear. In our opinion, the business risk should reside with the business owner. The fractional sales approach is the mitigation piece for the business owner.
An independent rep, although less expensive from a fixed cost perspective, could be or could not be your best solution. If the product aligns very nicely with their portfolio, then perhaps the sales are easy. If not, then they too have mortgages to pay and need groceries to feed themselves and will spend less time investing in selling your product if they can’t make money from it in a timely manner. They will spend their time on the products that are selling and bringing them in revenue.
How Your Business Is Represented
The other aspect of this is “how you are represented.” So the question of when you call on my behalf, what do you say, is simple in the fractional sales solution. We are the company. So on any day, I am Steve from Nelcos, Steve from Our Research, Steve from Borrum. The independent rep will not be these; he or she will be their own company and then the story is that they have a portfolio of products they sell. Very similar to a reseller in a way. There is nothing wrong with this, just different messaging.
The fractional service gives you the aspect of more bench depth internally. The independent rep may give you the feeling of more reach. Again, there is no wrong here, it just depends on what is best for you.
Good luck with your sales efforts. If we can be of assistance from a fractional sales perspective please reach out!
